


It's Been a While

by radicalbats



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 10:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2426204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radicalbats/pseuds/radicalbats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei sighed, dusting off his hands and slacks. It had been a very, very long day of moving things around and unpacking, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a few hours (or days), but it seemed like his cell phone had different plans. Taking it out of his pocket, he tapped the power button and immediately cringed.</p><p>This is set after Rei graduates, and he's just moved back (because of course he can't be away for long.) I wrote this before season 2 came out, so it's a little old, but I'm still proud of it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Been a While

Rei sighed, dusting off his hands and slacks. It had been a very, very long day of moving things around and unpacking, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a few hours (or days), but it seemed like his cell phone had different plans. Taking it out of his pocket, he tapped the power button and immediately cringed.

35 unread messages.

There were one or two messages from the sparse amount of friends he managed to accumulate at the university, three from his mother, and the rest were from his old, still close high school friend group. Even in his tired state, the sight of their names managed to bring a smile to his face.  
Out of the entire group, though, one particular name caught his eye.

And it wasn’t only due to the 23 unread messages from said name.

He slumped to the ground in front of his unmade bed, busying himself with his cell phone to distract him from the warm feelings bubbling up in his chest. 

**From: Matsuoka Rin**  
 _Heard you moved back, glasses. ___

Very tactful, Rin.

**From: Nanase Haruka**  
 _Makoto wants us to meet up on Friday, so you should probably come to the house then._

To the point as usual, Haru.

**From: Tachibana Makoto**  
 _Rei! Do you have any objections to hanging out with everyone on Friday? Rin, Nitori, Kou and Mikoshiba will all be up then. We are very happy to have you back!_

Rei smiled, reading the rest of Makoto’s friendly messages before replying.

Finally, he decided it was high time to tackle the mountain.

**From: Hazuki Nagisa**  
 _Rei-chan!! I’m so excited!!! Today’s the day!!! You’re finally back!!! ＼（＾▽＾）／_

_You’ve got to stay at my apartment for a while! I’m ready to hang out with you after so long!_

_I even cleaned it!!_

_Well, mostly cleaned it._

_I folded my clothes?_

_I figured you could help with that._

_After you get done unpacking of course! I’m not evil._

_You don’t really have to help clean up after me, I’m an adult after all!_

_I bet I’m even taller than you now._

_I’ve grown at least five centimeters!_

_Well, close to that._

_3 and a half_

_That’s close enough to five, right?_

_What matters is that I’m totally probably taller than you now._

_REI-CHAAAAAAN_

_Fine then! Don’t answer me. I’ll just wander around, completely lost and directionless. This is what you have reduced me to._

_Feel guilty!_

_I can’t actually wander around, I’m at work. But emotionally!!_

_My shift’s over in twenty minutes!! Can I come over to see you? You can’t expect me to wait until Makoto’s big meet-up. It was hard to wait when he came back, and that was ages ago!_

_I’m out of work now and you should really text me back- I have no idea where I’m going._

There were a few more messages to the same affect, the most recent one being from seven minutes earlier, though none of them seemed especially rushed. However, there was a definite undertone of anticipation. Once Rei regained his senses, he tapped out a hurried address. 

Nagisa replied almost immediately. 

**From: Hazuki Nagisa**  
 _!! That’s only ten minutes from where I am!_

_Wait there, ok?_

_Wait, I can come over, right?_

Jaw slack, Rei slowly nodded. 

He felt ridiculous when he realized no one could see it.

Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose to cover his rising blush, he typed out a quick “Of course."

**From: Hazuki Nagisa**  
 _Great!! I’ll be there ASAP! ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／_

As Rei silently shut off his phone, his mind began to race. It had been a very long time since he had seen anyone in his old group, and Nagisa was always particularly energetic. Would it be awkward? How did he need to behave? What were the social conventions for meeting up with a friend from high school that you may have had (and quite honestly, still have) not-entirely platonic feelings for?

He jumped to his feet, beginning to pace around the room. How could he have agreed to this? What was he thinking? This would be so awkward- no, scratch that, Nagisa would be a ray of extremely social sunshine. He would be awkward. Plus, his rooms were entirely too messy, with boxes scattered everywhere. His apartment was far too sparsely furnished; he would never be able to entertain any guests, much less one as active as Nagisa. 

Interrupting his thoughts, there was a loud knocking on his door. He had wasted ten minutes worrying, not doing anything to improve his situation. He swallowed thickly before opening the door.

Any semblance of a proper hello died in his throat at the sight of his friend. He HAD gotten taller, though he was nowhere near enveloping Rei’s height. His hair, eyes, and questionable fashion sense, however, remained strikingly the same.

Rei vaguely wondered, somewhere in the back of his mind, if his expression looked as excited as Nagisa’s.

It was more dumbstruck than excited.

Rei swallowed once more and attempted to break the awed- and slightly awkward- silence. “You’ve gotten taller.” He began to wonder if this whole one-on-one meeting was a terrible mistake when a pair of arms were suddenly squeezing his sides as tight as humanly possible.

He simply stared at the head of golden hair directly beneath his chin for five seconds before returning the hug.

After awkwardly positioning his arms somewhere around the smaller boy’s- man’s?- waist, he relaxed, and quickly returned the hug with just as much intensity.

Nagisa was the first to pull back, and Rei immediately noticed the light dusting of red on his cheeks. 

Failing to meet Rei’s eyes, Nagisa raised up the few extra centimeters to place a kiss on Rei’s cheek. He slowly lowered himself back down before beaming up at Rei, a smile that the bespectacled man had sorely missed without even realizing.

"Hey. I've missed you. It's, ah... It's been a while." Cheeks flooding red, the blond bounded his way into the other man's apartment. 

He left Rei hanging around in the doorway, hand resting lightly on his cheek and eyes wide. Rei could barely hear Nagisa poking around in his boxes and the man's excited chattering over his own thoughts. 

It was then that Rei realized- no. This definitely wasn’t a mistake.

This was the opposite of a mistake.

In fact, it was one of the best things to happen in a long, long time.

"Wait- Wait Nagisa, put that down- Don't shake that box!"

**Author's Note:**

> Wow it's pretty short, but I hope you like it! First ao3 fic, wow.


End file.
